Happy Belated NFP Awareness Week!

I've been traveling and haven't had nearly enough time lately, but wanted to share two of the great NFP videos I saw last week for NFP Awareness Week.

How many kids could we have? (Or, "Why I'm impressed with the Duggers")

In my last post I mentioned that NaturalGuy and I have a great deal of confidence that we couldn't have 20 kids if we tried. I thought I'd share our math.

We're young - 23. The average age women reach menopause, defined as a full year without menstruation, is 51, and almost all women reach menopause by 55. It's worth noting that fertility declines significantly before this. But, let's be generous and assume I'll have 30 fertile years.

What is missing from sex ed? Fertility Misconceptions.

NaturalGuy and I have had interesting conversations lately - in which we've had to inform very well-educated friends, friends who have taken college-level biology, of some of the basic facts of how human reproduction works. Now, if I were talking about the details of fertility, I would be more understanding - but we're talking basics. For example

1. Women are not fertile all the time. For the majority of their natural cycles, women are not capable of getting pregnant.
2. Women are not fertile forever. It is not unusual for women over 35 have trouble conceiving and by their early 40's many women can't achieve pregnancy. Later pregnancies come with greater risk to the mother and child.
3. Breastfeeding reduces fertility, especially if it is ecological breastfeeding.